mabye some of you could share your methods for jumping i.e. what you do to set up for jumps like doubles, tabletops, stepon-stepoffs etc. i think im going riding tomarrow for only the second time on a track(third really but i dont count the last time i went becasue i went one lap and my bike blew up). i have been having problems with the nose dropping, i think. if anyone saw the seattle supercross and RC in a heat race or something did like a super man attempt off a dragon back(on acident), ive done that 3 times.

id just like to know how much throttle to give off the jump and things of that sort.

BTW: i saw the tuesday tips for big jumps in transworld but they dont go into the "techinical" stuff, like balls of your feet and what not.

I was there for Seattle SX when RC went crazy over those double triple rythem section...
basicly, you want to stay centered over the bike when going off a jump. hold on with your legs more than your arms. and if the noes starts to dive, either crack the throttle. or muscle your way out of it by yanking the bars up.

In all honesty you would be better off focusing on turns, braking, acceleration etc untill you get the basics down solid. Too many people try to skip all that and just go do big jumps. They are much more likely to get hurt and of course their laptimes suffer drastically. Once your skill level is up to doing a jump, you won't need to ask how to set up for it. There are so many different factors involved its virtually imposible for someone here to tell you how to do it. The technique used would be different for different jumps (and I don't mean doubles vs tables, but rather the shape and consistency of the ramps, the distance before and after the jump, the angle of the jump etc) and even different riders will do different things over a given jump. In reality races are won and lost in the corners/braking and jumps are just there to give spectators something to watch and you a chance to breath imo

Don't get me wrong, I do find jumps fun, but they shouldn't be your main focus unless your shooting for a carrer as a free style dude. Get your cornering and general bikehandling skills honed and jumps will gradually seam easy and relaxing.

Tracks can varry a lot in terms of what kind of jumps they have and how safe/hard they are. When your learning look for a fairly flat track with lots of small, perhaps tricky table tops and doubles, but nothing really huge or unforgiving should you come up short.

A great place is somewhere like hardrock mx in FL, they have 4 tracks. After not riding for 4 years (college) I was very rusty to say the least. I stuck to their beginer track for an entire day before moving to the main track. This allowed me to get back into the rythm of things and test my timing and ability without undue risk.

Here's some pics from what I'd consider a great track to learn on - click for bigger pic

Then I moved to the main track and had lots of fun

Tower jump

Comming in for a landing after a Single to table type thing

A step-up

A step-down
Approach
And the Jump

Basic things to keep in mind
- Always try to land on the steepest part of the downslope
- When learnign try to land rear wheel first in most cases and under power.
- Sitting down and acclerating hard off a jump will compress the suspension more on the face and give you more lift, you can also acheive a similar effect by pressing the bike into the face with your legs.
- Standing up and absorbing the face with your legs will give you less lift and will allow you to go off a jump faster without over-jumping in some cases.
- The brakes and throttle do have an affect in the air - tapping the rear brake will bring the front end down a bit (remember to pull in the clutch so you don't stall), hitting the throttle will drop the rear/lift the front. Hitting the front brake will lift the rear/drop the front (generally not the best choice as you can't get the wheel spinning again before you touch the ground and the non-spinning wheel will sap a little speed).

Note, I'm no pro, I ocassionally race B class MX or harescrambles and mostly just ride for fun. I have been doing it for 10+ years

if your nose is coming down to fast, get on the throttle or try to lift it with your hands........while praying you dont endo!!

if your nose is too high, pull in the clutch and tap the back brake, becareful not to lock up the back wheel with out the clutch in.....it really hurts when your bike stops when it lands and you keep going into the bars

as for just jumping, stay centered in the bike with your wieght slightly back, stand up, arms/ knees bend, as for throttle position, it really depends on how far the jump is, what gear are you in, ie. there is a a small tabletop at my local track, its about 37 feet, i could do it 2nd gear, completely WFO and clear it, or i could do it in 3rd just as easily with out being as hard on the bike

Its an awsome MX park, 4 different MX tracks all well designed and very safe (well, safe by MX track standards).

The "Pro" track had a lot of elevation change with lots of combo jumps but very few with really bad penelties for comming up short. It was a very creative track with lots of options for drastically different lines, hill jumps, etc. The longest jump, that one by the water tower is listed as 120ft from the lip of the take-off ramp to the start of the down ramp.

The "Outback Track" was a novice track with lots of small to mid size tables and a few very rounded doubles and one mini-whoop section (more like a bunch of speed bumps).

The Sand track was a typical sand track, flat sandy and lots of mid sized doubles and table tops. I didn't spend a lot of time on it. It wasn't bad, but wasn't really special either.

The Rollercoaster was a natural GP style track, though frankly they could have done a better job with it. It was cool and all, but needed more wide, sweeping corners. As it was it had a lot of straights and tight turns, a GP track shouldn't have much of either imo

Here are a few pics of the GP track - forgive the quality, I took them with my left hand while riding around the track on my CR

You have three contact points between you and the bike. Your feet on the pegs, the grip of your knees(in more than one place), and your hands on the grips. If you are cornering sitting down and your inside leg is out for balance, push your outside knee against the shroud for a little grip. But I would suggest learning to corner standing up. This would include squeezing dilligently with both knees. Believe it or not, your hands are number 3 on the list. They should be relaxed and loose most of the time. Especially in the air. I'm no pro either. You just learn things as you race and ride. Good luck and don't try to learn everything at once!

Jeez! I can't believe I forgot to say this.: If you don't feel comfortable with a jump, DON'T TRY IT! I've rolled the same jump around 50 times before I finally decided to hit it. Be comfortable or don't go for it.

Your problem with your nose dropping in the air is probably coming from you not staying on the gas up the face of the take-off. When you jump you want to (when learning) keep a nice even acceleration going on all the way up the face of the jump, this keeps forward momentum happening and drives your bike into the air so to speek.

In all honesty you would be better off focusing on turns, braking, acceleration etc untill you get the basics down solid. Too many people try to skip all that and just go do big jumps. They are much more likely to get hurt and of course their laptimes suffer drastically. Once your skill level is up to doing a jump, you won't need to ask how to set up for it. There are so many different factors involved its virtually imposible for someone here to tell you how to do it. The technique used would be different for different jumps (and I don't mean doubles vs tables, but rather the shape and consistency of the ramps, the distance before and after the jump, the angle of the jump etc) and even different riders will do different things over a given jump. In reality races are won and lost in the corners/braking and jumps are just there to give spectators something to watch and you a chance to breath imo

Don't get me wrong, I do find jumps fun, but they shouldn't be your main focus unless your shooting for a carrer as a free style dude. Get your cornering and general bikehandling skills honed and jumps will gradually seam easy and relaxing.

Tracks can varry a lot in terms of what kind of jumps they have and how safe/hard they are. When your learning look for a fairly flat track with lots of small, perhaps tricky table tops and doubles, but nothing really huge or unforgiving should you come up short.

A great place is somewhere like hardrock mx in FL, they have 4 tracks. After not riding for 4 years (college) I was very rusty to say the least. I stuck to their beginer track for an entire day before moving to the main track. This allowed me to get back into the rythm of things and test my timing and ability without undue risk.

Here's some pics from what I'd consider a great track to learn on - click for bigger pic

Then I moved to the main track and had lots of fun

Tower jump

Comming in for a landing after a Single to table type thing

A step-up

A step-down
Approach
And the Jump

Basic things to keep in mind
- Always try to land on the steepest part of the downslope
- When learnign try to land rear wheel first in most cases and under power.
- Sitting down and acclerating hard off a jump will compress the suspension more on the face and give you more lift, you can also acheive a similar effect by pressing the bike into the face with your legs.
- Standing up and absorbing the face with your legs will give you less lift and will allow you to go off a jump faster without over-jumping in some cases.
- The brakes and throttle do have an affect in the air - tapping the rear brake will bring the front end down a bit (remember to pull in the clutch so you don't stall), hitting the throttle will drop the rear/lift the front. Hitting the front brake will lift the rear/drop the front (generally not the best choice as you can't get the wheel spinning again before you touch the ground and the non-spinning wheel will sap a little speed).

Note, I'm no pro, I ocassionally race B class MX or harescrambles and mostly just ride for fun. I have been doing it for 10+ years